Don’t Worry, The ‘Mass Effect’ Movie Is Still Based on The Game

It’s an exciting time for movie buffs who also happen to be gamers. Yes, the vast majority of video game adaptations have not been great, but the tide is about to turn and what we know as a film genre full of disappointments will soon become the home to a plethora of blockbuster franchises based on high profile, story-driven video games that developers are aiming to protect.

Standing alongside highly anticipated in-development movies based on the likes of Assassin’s Creed, Uncharted and others is of course, Mass Effect. The story, characters and cinimatic style of the Mass Effect games themselves had us sold, but then came the Legendary Pictures panel at this summer’s Comic-Con which promised great things.

I stood in a line for hours to make sure I could be a part of the first ever Legendary Pictures panel presentation at a Comic-Con and while it focused on four high concept films that were only in very early production (so, no footage) it was still exciting. It was here where screenwriter Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend, Jurassic Park IV) and Mass Effect game producer Casey Hudson took to the stage.

Protosevich and Hudson didn’t have nitty gritty details on the Mass Effect movie to share so instead, they talked about the collaborative process and how Legendary Pictures is the right home for such a project. They emphasized how closely they were working with game developer BioWare to ensure that Mass Effect gets the big screen treatment it deserves.

The Mass Effect video game series sees its third installment release in March, promising the biggest and most extensive adventure yet to conclude the series and the story arc of protagonist Commander Shepard. Considering each game’s main story runs for dozens of hours, it’s no easy task to adapt, so this raises the question of what story the film will tell.

Protosevich explained that the movie he’s writing would absolutely be “following and honoring story” and that Mass Effect would follow the story of the first game. This was the perfect answer – That’s what fans would love to see.

You can imagine then, the concern and confusion we experienced in September when discovering that the official Legendary Pictures website had posted an August-dated Q&A that contradicted everything we were told in person. The site explained that these were the questions that they didn’t have time to address on stage at Comic-Con in late July. This is what it read (then):

Q: Will it just be an adaptation of the first game, second game, or a completely new story? A: It will be a completely new story

Q: How are you going to address the element of ‘choice’ that the players have in the game? A: A movie narrative is different than gameplay. There won’t be a choice aspect to this film, just a normal film narrative.

Q: Will it be a trilogy? A: We are really focused on making this a great movie, so we’ll see where it takes us. We have to get the first one right to know whether there will be more.

Q: Will Seth Green portray Joker (that character he voiced in the game?) A: No.

Q: Will the movie be focused on Sheppard? A: Yes.

Q: If the movie is focused on Sheppard, will it be the male Sheppard or the female Sheppard? A: Male.

Q: Can you give any hints to potential casting? A: No. Stay tuned.

Q: Will BioWare allow plot / character changes? A: Yes, we are working closely with BioWare on the development of this project.

Q: Would you consider Daft Punk to do the soundtrack? A: We love Daft Punk, but it’s too early to say who will produce the soundtrack.

Legendary’s site was now stating – only weeks later – that the movie would not be based on the games and that Seth Green seemingly wouldn’t even be considered to take on the role of Joker, the fan-favorite character he voices in the games. I wrote about this for our sister site, Game Rant, and was confused that they had directly told us the opposite information at their panel. It was also odd that here, on their site, they spelled the protagonist’s name incorrectly at every instance.

That was the last we heard on the project until a few weeks ago when I was given the heads up that the Q&A Legendary posted – still dated as August – had been drastically altered. Let’s take a look:

Q: Will it just be an adaptation of the first game, second game, or a completely new story? A: It will focus on Commander Shepard’s journey, centering around the story of the original Mass Effect game.

Q: How are you going to address the element of ‘choice’ that the players have in the game? A: The writer is weaving a path through Shepard’s decisions that best supports the narrative of the movie and the motivations of its characters.

Q: Will it be a trilogy? A: We are really focused on making this a great movie, so we’ll see where it takes us. We have to get the first one right to know whether there will be more.

Q: Will Seth Green portray Joker, the character he voiced in the game? A: No casting decisions have been made yet.

Q: Will the movie be focused on Shepard? A: Yes.

Q: If the movie is focused on Shepard, will it be the male Shepard or the female Shepard? A: Male.

Q: Can you give any hints to potential casting? A: No. Stay tuned.

Q: Will BioWare allow plot / character changes? A: Yes, we are working closely with BioWare on the development of this project.

Q: Would you consider Daft Punk to do the soundtrack? A: We love Daft Punk, but it’s too early to say who will produce the soundtrack.

Not only is the character’s name right, but the story has changed! Again, the Mass Effect film will tell the story of the first game and won’t be something entirely different under the brand (see: Uncharted movie fail). Also note that Seth Green isn’t written off yet – the “no” was replaced with a more diplomatic answer.

I spoke with Legendary to confirm whether or not there were changes happening with the direction of the film and what was happening with the site. They confirmed that it was simple human error that put up the incorrect answers in the first place and that the film was on track, holding true to what was said at the panel and what the site now says.

This is good news, because the films do not need to (and shouldn’t) make up a new story. The games tell a superior and more emotional story with better characters than most films we’ve seen in recent years and we couldn’t be more excited about potential for a film franchise based on them. It won’t be too long before the casting rumors begin rolling in…

For fans of the games, Mass Effect 3 releases March 6, 2012 for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. Find out more at Game Rant!